Two Ukrainian teenagers detained in Poland for painting "Bandera slogans and flag"
Two 17-year-old Ukrainian citizens have been detained in Poland for supposedly painting red and black flags and leaving "Bandera slogans" on buildings and memorial sites dedicated to the victims of the Volyn tragedy. [The Volyn (Volhynia) tragedy was a series of events that led to the ethnic cleansing of the Polish and Ukrainian populations in 1943 during World War II. It was part of a long-standing rivalry between Ukrainians and Poles in what is now Ukraine's west. Poland considers the Volyn tragedy a genocide of Poles – ed.]
According to TVN 24, a Polish 24-hour commercial news channel, the Wrocław police reported that "according to the investigators' findings, the detainees placed Bandera flags and slogans promoting Nazi ideology and glorifying Stepan Bandera on the facades of buildings and monuments dedicated to the victims of the Volyn tragedy".
The detentions were carried out through coordination by officers from the criminal department of the Wrocław Municipal Police, the Internal Security Agency and the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime.
It is alleged that these actions took place in Wrocław, Warsaw and, more recently, in the village of Domostawa.
The investigation is being supervised by the National Prosecutor's Office.
Tomasz Siemoniak, Polish Minister of the Interior and coordinator of Polish intelligence services, reported that the detained teenager had "vandalised monuments to victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and public buildings by painting anti-Polish slogans" following instructions from foreign intelligence services. He said these actions had intended to "fuel discord between Poles and Ukrainians". [The UPA, or the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, was a nationalist paramilitary organisation that fought for Ukrainian independence during and after World War II, primarily against Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union – ed.]
"This young Ukrainian was recruited by foreign intelligence services. You couldn't find a better gift for the Russians," the Polish prime minister commented on the teenager's detention.
He added that this is not the first case of Russia recruiting Ukrainians and Belarusians for provocations in Poland.
"Let us remember that in almost every such case, Russia is behind attempts to stir up conflicts, anti-Polish sentiment in Ukraine, and anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland," Tusk emphasised.
It is currently unknown whether this refers to one of the detainees reported by the Wrocław police.
On 12 August, Tusk accused Russia of trying to sow discord between Warsaw and Kyiv. He stated that anti-Polish gestures by Ukrainians and the incitement of anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland are part of Russian leader Vladimir Putin's plan.
On 13 August, it became known that the Polish prosecutor's office had submitted an indictment to court against six members of an organised criminal group accused of sabotage on behalf of a foreign state.
In February 2025, a Ukrainian was sentenced to eight years in a Polish prison for plotting sabotage in favour of Russia.